Two employees of Ventspils International Radio Astronomy Centre (VIRAC) of the Ventspils University of Applied Sciences (VUAS) – Romass Pauliks, Electronics and Satellite Technology department manager and researcher at VUAS and Artūrs Orbidāns, an engineer at VUAS – took part in staff exchange training at ASTRON, the Netherlands Institute for Radio Astronomy, within the framework of BALTICS project “Building on Advanced LOFAR Technology for Innovation, Collaboration and Sustainability” (project No 692257).

The main aim of the staff exchange was to introduce VIRAC employees to high-performance data processing board UniBoard I, which was developed by ASTRON engineers. VIRAC employees under the supervisory of ASTRON staff were introduced to the architecture of the board and its applications in radio astronomy. Particular attention was dedicated to both phased array antenna data processing algorithms in case of APERTIF and practical work with UniBoard I. The gained skills and the documentation prepared during staff exchange will be useful while working with UniBoard I equipment at the disposal of VIRAC. This experience will develop VIRAC competence and knowledge within the signal processing and electronics industry.